Diddy Kong Pilot (2001 build)

Attention! This article requires cleanup.The editor who added this tag believes this page should be cleaned up for the following reason: DisorganisedYou can discuss this on the talk page or edit this page to improve it.

Diddy Kong Pilot is a cancelled Diddy Kong based video game for the Game Boy Advance, supposedly to be a sequel to Diddy Kong Racing. The game itself was cancelled as Nintendo considered the game substandard when the game itself was completed in 2002, thus leading to the game's cancellation. Rare tried to completely change Diddy Kong Pilot and were currently working on reskinning it. Though, as they were purchased by Microsoft for 365 million dollars, they had to shelf the game. Later in 2003, they announced that the game would be reskinned into Banjo-Pilot, with Banjo-Pilot itself being released in early 2005.

Though, on September 15, 2011, a YouTube and former Rareware member under the alias of Transparentjinjo posted a gameplay video here (link defunct) on how progress was like as of September 7, 2001.

Contents

Overview

Diddy Kong Pilot was supposed to be the next game in the Diddy Kong Racing line of video games, to be released for the Game Boy Advance. It was presumably the sequel to Diddy Kong Racing, due to the screenshots of flight gameplay very similar to Diddy Kong Racing's, though exclusively flying likely to the Game Boy Advance's limitations. It also had usage of the Mode 7 engine.

The game was also going to have a tilt sensor, much like Yoshi Topsy Turvy does. As the build with leaked gameplay footage was not far in development, other stuff happens; only the title screen has music and most of the courses are unfinished. Also, some courses are all still glitched and lack terrain.

According to Rare on their defunct Rareware website, the player would've been able to customise their own plane and pick it, (similar to customising karts in Mario Kart 7). They also state that a squadron of monkeys and Kremlings were to appear, meaning that more than just K. Rool and Kritter would've appeared, possibly as unlockable characters. When a weapon is collected, it is possible to be upgraded, much like in Diddy Kong Racing.

The modes in the game include a racing mode where the Grand Prix takes place, story mode where missions have to be completed, dogfight mode where dogfights take place, battles mode (logo changed to four Game Boy Advance links in later development) where players can race in courses or battle in dogfights, a Clock Race mode which was presumably the Time Trials mode and an options mode where the only option is whether to use tilt control or not. There was also going to be the stories Back to the Light, K. Rool's Gold and King of Kongs.

In the Story Mode, the characters have their own story to play through. Rare also states that there was to be a boss battle with a specific boss at the ending of each story.[3]

Demo

In E3 2001, there was a demo version of the game. The character is randomly selected for the player with a choice of five courses in total. The courses in the demo include Chicken Chase, Magma Mainland, Frosty Lake, Beach Race and Haunted Race. According to a preview, weapons were not enabled in the demo version.[4]

Rare's Official Description

The description of the game comes directly from Rare's defunct website from the early 2000s:

"Relive the classic gameplay style of Diddy Kong Racing as you take to the skies again in one of Rare's very first titles for the Game Boy Advance! Pick out your favourite from an unlikely squadron of Kongs and Kremlings, each bringing along their own distinctive (and customizable) flying machine, then launch yourself headlong into the striking 3D courses. Within minutes you'll be diving low over sandy beaches and climbing high above bubbling lava en route to the chequered flag and victory...

All sorts of play options are yours for the tinkering, including single-player and multiplayer tournaments, a classic time trial and detailed story modes for each character (ending in climactic one-on-one boss duels). You can even link up with three of your mates, competing for the title of squadron leader or simply blast each other out of the sky in frantic dogfights.

Other features of the game include interactive background scenery, rolling and looping manoeuvres, upgradable weapons and power-ups, secret features to unlock and of course the rarely-seen Tilt Technology, where, if you're feeling particularly adventurous, you can set aside your D-Pad in favour of controlling the plane by actually tilting the Game Boy Advance."

Controls

Characters

In Diddy Kong Pilot, the game first started out with Mario characters mixed in with Donkey Kong characters. Later, the idea was scrapped with only Donkey Kong characters in the game. Strangely, Funky appears to be absent in the 2001. Though, according to the 145th issue of Nintendo Power in a preview part of the page, they said there were going to be unlockable characters in the game itself, implying that Funky was probably redone to match the standards of being an unlockable character.